18 Wallman Way & 3 Western Drive

Families:
John and Heather McLaughlin have 4 children. John works as an auto mechanic and Heather is a homemaker.
Estefany Maurino, with 2 children, is a technician who provides care for adult clients of a non-profit organization.

Two new single-family homes will be built on vacant lots on the corner of Wallman Way and Western Drive in the Budd Lake section of Mount Olive Township. The houses will be accessible, handicapped-adaptable and ENERGY STAR certified for energy efficiency. Green or reusable building materials will be used whenever feasible.

Home price will not exceed $155,000. Affordable 30-year fixed-rate mortgages will be held by Morris Habitat. The homes will have a 50-year deed restriction that allows modest equity upon resale, but mandates that they be sold at an affordable price to other income-eligible families. Prospective homeowners will contribute a minimum of 300 hours of sweat equity.

Mount Olive Township donated $140,000 from its Affordable Housing Trust Fund toward the project. Additional funding includes governmental grants from the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and the Self-help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP) and a grant from the John A. and Margaret Post Foundation, Inc. Many individuals supported the McLaughlin home by contributing nearly $12,000 to purchase building materials through our Raise the Roof & Build It Now! online drive in fall 2016. Elizabethtown Gas donated almost $10,000 worth of natural gas lines and services for the two homes.

Two homeowner families were chosen by lottery in October 2015 from qualified applicants who attended one of the homeowner orientation sessions in July. John and Heather McLaughlin have two daughters (ages 6 years and 2 years) and two sons (ages 4 years and 6 months). John works as an auto mechanic and Heather is a homemaker. They currently live with Heather’s parents. Estefany Maurino is a single mother with a 5-year-old son and a 2-year-old daughter. She works as a technician to provide care for adult clients of a non-profit organization.

The groundbreaking ceremony was held in October 2015. We installed footings and foundations and built sheds in summer 2016. Through the winter we worked on framing, roofing and siding. Windows were installed in spring 2017. Women volunteered for Women Build days in July and August 2017. Patios and porches were built in the summer. Stone walkways and landscape plantings were completed in September. At the dedication ceremony, Catherine Natafalusy was honored with a plaque on a rock near a newly-planted tree. She is the Mt. Olive planning administrator who has guided this and two other projects past all obstacles to successful completion. Both families will be able to move in by November 2017.

During the dedication ceremony on 9/8/2017. (photo by Amanda Brown/for Morris Habitat for Humanity)